Go west - life is valuable there.
It was that time in her life when Kerry Short wanted to sink her teeth into a task with meaning, purpose, and a little bit of excitement. And just like rubbing a wishing lamp in a scene from Aladdin, out popped the NSW Health recruitment genie granting Kerry her wish.
“I received an e-mail seeking Expressions of Interest for staff interested in participating in a state-wide NSW Health Deployment Program, and I thought ‘Oh yes great, this is me!’ I really wanted to do something where I feel like I'm valued and something that was a bit closer to the frontline,” recalls Kerry Short, Business Process Analyst Partnerships and Project.
The HealthShare NSW employee was offered to go to the wide-open spaces of Broken Hill in the state’s far west to offer her wide range of expertise.
“My day job sees me work in the corporate environment in the partnerships and projects directorate. I work across different projects and sometimes those projects involve linking up with local health districts. I had also recently viewed all 15 sittings of the health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional, and remote New South Wales inquiry to understand the challenges faced by rural and remote health districts and people residing there,” said Kerry.
Already drawn to the frontier mining town from a recent road trip there, Kerry was also keen to get in front of the hospital coalface.
“The opportunity was to work at the frontline with people at hospital levels, not necessarily patient level, but it's certainly in hospital operations and that's always been interesting for me, it really got me thinking about my role at a patient level and what HealthShare could do to make their healthcare journey better,” reflects Kerry.
Once Kerry arrived at Broken Hill she found that purpose she was looking for, plus more.
“I have always had an interest in community health, and now I wanted to link it to the work I do at HealthShare NSW.
"When I first arrived at Broken Hill I was slotted into an executive assistant role for the General Manager, and we immediately clicked being of the same vintage and similar interests, it was wonderful,” says Kerry excitedly.
“We connected well, we would sit down when she completed her rounds in the morning and have a talk about what was going on during the day with the appointments. And then we would forward plan two weeks ahead. We learned a lot of things from each other. And I learned a lot about her clinical role.”
But it is what Kerry learned about her place of work that really stuck with her.
“I learned a lot about the Far West Health District, that was a real buzz for me. I went on the deployment wanting to find value in what I do each day and I found that NSW Health is an organisation where you can find that. For me, that's what work is about. I'm not interested in climbing any career ladders or getting to the next level. For me it is about giving the best of me and the best value to the people out there in the community,” explains Kerry.
And if that wise genie were to ever reappear, Kerry would have no qualms about duplicating her wish.
“I would definitely do it again. I'd go anywhere in the state. The people are so open, hospitable, and friendly. They were all just so welcoming. These deployments are a great service. It's a great opportunity for your professional development, experience, and exposure,” Kerry excitedly concluded.
